But today we have built a beautiful new church (dedicated 1 1/2 years ago) and there are bills to pay.
I'd so much rather be in our old building with our "old" one worship Sundays instead of spending time trying to appeal to the affluent neighborhood where the church now stands.
I was treasurer at our ELCA congregation for 1 1/2 years. Nothing but income/expense problems due to our 'new' construction and income not meeting expectations. The finance committee was more interested in refinancing the debt on the church, parsonage and adjoining property (a rental unit) than they were in assisting me on working through our monthly problems. The usual comment was 'oh, Jim can handle it'. Well, I finally resigned in disgust. Now we're with the LCMS and I confine myself to the Evangelism committee and being one of the webmasters at our CTSMemberConnect website. I'm very happy!
Many churches are struggling financially. I can't say that our LCMS church is although they seem to think so. Membership is greater than our ELCA congregation. Worship attendance is good. And we met out budget for this year. Sure, it was a struggle, but when isn't it?